ςђครเภɠ ๔гєค๓ร
by SwiftintheSky
Summary: Sequel to Friend Ball. Je is wandering a seemingly endless forest, trapped. His mission? To find his sister, dead or alive. But then an unexpected disaster sends his journey spinning in another direction. He will not come out of it the same... ON SEMI-HIATUS. NOT ABANDONED. SEE LATEST UPDATE FOR DETAILS
1. Plunge

**A/N: Okay, this isn't the REAL A/N, but I want to get it out of the way before I start the story, for unobservant people who didn't pay attention to the summary. This is the _sequel_ to Friend Ball, another story I've written. So go read that first or this will make absolutely no sense. o3o**

* * *

Today, cold-time crept over the forest and frost crackled under my paws, the air just a pinch sharper and clearer.

Today, I was running for my life.

Ferns whipped past me, unloading cascades of dewdrops onto my pelt. Twigs snapped in my face, sharp stones and branches poking my paw pads. I gritted my teeth, lowered my head, and ran faster. My breath puffed out in icy clouds, but I wasn't afraid. I knew I could outrun them. Still, I couldn't help but remember how this had come to be.

* * *

I had been wandering in this Mew-forsaken forest for months. Three, to be exact. Sun-time was gone, and brown-time was coming to an end. When I woke up in the morning, my breath was visible, curling from my nostrils like cold smoke. Frost crept up the roots of the trees all around me.

The forest was endless. At least, it seemed to be. Tree after tree rose from the ground, each exactly like the other. Bushes and shrubs and ferns, unchanging, unyielding.

I had a mission. Find my sister, be she dead or alive. And to do so, I had to first escape this forest. For days, I had been travelling on a tip given to me by an old and decrepit arcanine. I didn't know how accurate it was, but it was my only lead. I hadn't spoken for another pokemon in days; most were busy readying themselves for cold-time, and being a Dark-type and predator, I was generally avoided.

Each night, I would find an abandoned burrow, a hollow between tree roots, or even just a spreading bush, and drop nearly instantly off to sleep. Each day, I pressed myself long and hard, waking with the sun and travelling until after dark. If I passed by a berry bush, or came across a small pokemon like a rattata or pidgey, I would stop momentarily to have a meal; although, the last berries were drying up, and prey was becoming scarce and swift. Afterwards, I would go on, pushed on by a driving force to know the truth. Occasionally, I would be able to ask a pokemon for directions; many times, however, my efforts were useless.

Take the day before, for example. I had stumbled upon the first pokemon I'd seen for days, besides fleeting glimpses of rattata or pikachu in the undergrowth, or pidgey and spearow perching on high-above branches. It was a young oddish, pacing along between clumps of fern. She couldn't have been living on her own for long, if that.

Trying not to startle her, I stepped from the brush and greeted her in what I hoped was a friendly, or at least non-threatening, voice: "Hello."

Squealing in surprise, she cringed and called out, "Don't eat me!"

I sighed and soothed her, "I'm _not_ going to eat you. I could've killed you already if I wanted to eat you."

Okay, maybe that wasn't as soothing as I'd hoped. Still, the small oddish drew herself up a bit, red eyes, narrowing, and piped up bravely, "Wh-What do you want from me?"

"I just want to know if you know any way out of this forest," I replied carefully.

"N-No! Why would I want to leave? I was born and raised here!" With that, the oddish dashed into the undergrowth as quickly as her stubby little legs could carry her.

It was a lot of effort for absolutely nothing. So I kept following the arcanine's lead. The arcanine whom had stared off into space, thought about it for a while, huffed, and indicated a direction with his tail, mumbling gruffly, "I reckon it's that a-way." Still, it was better than choosing a random direction and pursuing it for a week or two - or until it became evident this wasn't the correct way, which had probably only gotten me even _more_ lost.

Asking pokemon for directions was hard. Most avoided me like the plague. Those that didn't or whom I managed to surprise usually didn't know - why leave, after all? - or didn't care.

At night, I had another issue. The nightmares. The nightmares where Kiera spoke to me, pleaded to me, the ones where I was helpless or immobile, the ones where everyone I'd known in my home forest flashed by, leaving me alone, laughing at me, taunting me...

I had had them many times before. They shouldn't frighten me, shouldn't bother me. They were only dreams, after all.

Yet they did.

And now, back to my current predicament. It was caused by a single careless misstep, a lapse in attention. That was all.

I'd been thinking about my plans for cold-time. It was reported that this region got a lot of snow during that season. Doubtless that would slow down my progress; I'd have to struggle through snowdrifts, prey would become even scarcer than it was now, and berries would be unheard of. I'd have to spend much more time scrounging around for a meal. I'd lose a lot of progress...

_CRACK._

That sound caught my attention, as something wet and gooey seeped around my paw. My eyes widened as my gaze drifted slowly downwards.

A spearow's nest was tucked in at the base of a tree.

I'd just stepped on an egg.

Spearow are not known to be forgiving pokemon, nor logical, nor even particularly reasonable. Instead, they are known as fierce, warlike, mean-spirited flying-types who will literally peck your eyes out for revenge.

"Spear-r-r-roww!" The infuriated, trilling cry rang out on a branch above me.

"Spear-r-r-roww!" Answering cries rose from neighboring trees as spearow spread their wings, talons gleaming, excited for the prospect of battle. As if as one, they rose from their branches and dove after me.

_Oh, Mew._ Spinning on my heel, I dashed as quickly as I could into the undergrowth. My only hope was to outrun them. There was no way I could fight this many pokemon - there were at least a dozen.

I sped through the forest, dodging trees and bushes, darting between oaks and sycamores, my paws hardly touching the forest floor as I sped, legs pumping, away from my enemy.

Unfortunately, Spearow are also known to be very, very fast. They sliced through the air with wings held tight to their sides and reached me much more quickly than I had thought possible. Now they flung their wings from their bodies, suddenly _whoosh_ing to a near stop, only to mobilize again as they dove for their victim. Namely, me.

I kept running as the first stabs of pain came, as if there were still some desperate hope I could get away from them. Their sharp little talons began slicing at my shoulders and sides, while their cruelly tapered beaks tore at my ears, tail, and back. They swept in close, battering my face with their wings, making me stagger and stumble. Gleaming claws sought my eyes, but I snapped at them with sharp teeth, desperately driving them away.

But soon, it became clear to me that this was a losing battle. I was slowing, panting harder and harder, leaving an even clearer target for the merciless spearow. I bled freely from countless tiny cuts and scratches, but added all together, they made my body ache and tingle with pain. And was I beginning to feel dizzy - or was it just my imagination?

In my desperate dash, I didn't notice the trees thinning. I didn't notice the loose soil, or the sound of rushing water, or the increasing number of pebbles scattered about. I didn't notice, that is, until it was too late.

I blinked blurriness from my vision and instantly my eyes flew wide open with shock. In just a few feet, the ground fell away from me in a sheer cliff, water roaring and tumbling beyond.

In a split second, my options were assessed. No time to turn around, or veer away; that would only result in me tumbling awkwardly over the edge, likely badly injuring myself. No, my only choice was to jump straight over. For a single moment, I bunched my muscles, grunted, and _leaped_.

I sliced through the air, paws outstretched, soaring across the yawning chasm. For a moment, I thought I was going to make it.

Then I started falling.

My paws went past the opposite cliff face only a few inches before I would've hit it and managed to hold on. Yelping in shock, I tumbled towards the river, which was swelling viciously with brown-time's abundant rain.

The water hit me like a charging nidoking. Pain erupted across my side and face. The freezing temperature knocked the breath out of me.

Bubbles swirled past me; the cold was all around me, pressing in, swirling around me. The current whipped me around, my limbs seizing up with shock.

Then I hit the first boulder, sending pain lancing through my ribs. Something snapped inside of me then, and I fought my way to the surface, clawing at the water. I managed to take a couple of great gulps of sweet, clean, freezing air - before I was swept under again.

I'd hit the main current. It was extremely powerful, fed by constant rain, roaring in my ears and tossing me around like a frail brown-time leaf. I paddled uselessly at the frigid water, but I gained no leeway. My lungs felt like they were about to burst, until I could hold my breath no longer. I gasped in water, water that flooded my mouth, throat, and lungs, crowding into my nose, eyes, and ears. I was swirled around a bend, and suddenly I was banged into rock after rock after rock. My already-battered sides were bruised and injured; my leg was slammed, hard, against a boulder, sending explosions of pain up the limb.

My mind buzzed dizzily; my thoughts became hazy and blurry. I gave one final cough before blackness enveloped my mind. Total, complete, aching blackness.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, people, I'm glad to be back! It's hard to believe that it's literally been _10 months_ since I completed Friend Ball. And _22_ since I began the story! That's almost two _years!_ Crazy, just crazy. Anyway, as the fans I PMed know, this chapter is being released faaaaaar after I told them it would be. Sorry 'bout that. I had writers' block, I've been busy, I've had other projects, and ultimately, I became unmotivated and forgot about it. Again, a PM from a dedicated fan is what got me back onto my feet. I had a burst of inspiration today at school, and _voila_. CrystalSakura, at your service.**

**Anyway. So this is it, the first chapter of _Chasing Dreams,_ the much-awaited sequel to Friend Ball. And I've stuck poor Je into quite a predicament, haven't I? Hmmm...**

**As usual, I hope to update soon, but no promises. This fanfic will be updated sporadically, as Friend Ball was. (Although hopefully not AS sporadically.) I hope all y'all enjoy!**


	2. Saved

**A/N: Hey, guess what, guys? I actually updated in a timely fashion! :D I'll apologize in advance for the chapter being so short, though. I kind of needed a transition chapter, and I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger (dun dun dun...). However, to make up for it, the next chapter will (probably) come out sooner than normal! ;) Anyway, on to review replies.**

**Loonyboy - Thanks! I got the font from Messletters, which can easily be found by Googling. ;) I got the idea from a forums, where people used it all the time to make their threads stand out. I'm fairly certain I'm the first on FFN to use it in their story titles.**

**SpyroAgain - Aww, thank you very much! And I like your story a lot. In fact, it's given me a few ideas for the next Pokemon story I plan to write after Chasing Dreams. (That'll be a long time, but still.)**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - Yes, I thought the seasons were rather clever. ;D Spring is bloom-time, by the way. And no, Dark-type pokemon aren't particularly trusted, because come on. They're DARK. And bonus... negative... points if you're a Dark-type with big creepy red eyes. :O**

**Darkluvumbreon - Yay! Good to see you reviewing again! "My favorite depressing Umbreon is back", lol. That made my day. And thanks for your praise. Yes, I have gotten a LOT better since the end of Friend Ball 10 months ago, and CERTAINLY a whole lot better since it started way back in 2010. (Wow, was it really 2 years ago? 0_o)**

**Tamara the Hybridian - Ooh, I get over-writing too. I'll have ideas for like 8 different stories, but I'll only ever get the prologue/chapter 1 written on any of them. But I think writers' block is worse. You can't write at thing and when you do, it sounds like crap. Once I had writers' block when I was trying to write a short story for Language Arts 2 days before it was due. But everything I wrote sounded horrible. So I finally gave up and the next day my writers' block was gone, luckily, and I spent like 2 hours writing it, editing it, and revising it, and managed to get it finished the day before I had to turn it in. :D And about Je being a predator, yeah. Umbreon seem to be based off something like dogs/cats/foxes, all of which are carnivores (though I prefer to think of them as omnivores with carnivorous tendencies).**

**Last Warrior 7 - Oh, I'm not offended at all. I like concrit. In fact, I'd probably prefer a review with concrit than just one saying "you're so good zomg!", as long as it's not rudely worded, that is. Anyway, the jumping-off-a-cliff-to-avoid-enemies thing probably IS overused. Though he wasn't really doing it to escape the spearow; he didn't see it before and there was no time to turn around. Though, it's basically the same thing, I suppose.**

**And the thing about him dying, well. This clearly isn't a oneshot, so the reader has to assume that he lives. And about your sentence: "You see, there is nothing plot wise that is driving either the protagonist or the reader onward", well, I'm not sure how to respond to that. It's fine if you feel that way. However, I think there's enough going on to be interesting. He's trying to find his sister, whom he may have killed, in a quest to know the truth. Anyways, anyone reading _Chasing Dreams_ should have read Friend Ball first and if they have, they're probably rather invested in Je and his character. (Unless, of course, they hated Friend Ball, but I digress.)**

**The whole searching aimlessly thing can be boring, I agree. However, as you see in this chapter, that's not all that's going to be going on in this story. ;D**

**...Wow, 6 reviews for one chapter. That's a lot. It may be a new record. :D Anyway, enjoy, beloved fans!~**

* * *

_Pain._

_Darkness.  
_

_Silence.  
_

_No, not silence... Quiet voices, faraway... too distant... to make... out..._

* * *

_Floating in a void. Quiet. Nothing. Black. Quiet. Pain. Pain, pain, pain. Being moved. Moving. Being touched...? Can't hold on. Fading... fading... pain..._

* * *

_Sometimes there is nothing, nothing and no one, and I am blissfully aware of not a thing, only a dull aching thump behind the curtain of the sky..._

_Other times there is something, something small, one thing or many, and I can almost think, almost pierce the unending night and darkness, but almost is not enough...  
_

_Sometimes the pain is a roaring fire, scorching my fur and trying to force my tongue to scream... Or a dull wheedling ache, poking on me just beyond the edge of reality... Or persistent, ember-like pains, burning dimly, uncomfortably...  
_

_Sometimes something cool and wet touches my lips, or I am dimly aware of a paw pressed to my body, of sticky... _things_ plastered to my fur... Or I'll hear voices, dim, a thousand mils away, tones barely there, words without meaning..._

_Then I slip back into the void, and there is nothing._

* * *

_"...up soon..." "...know...survive." "Wander...from?" "...never...unless...up." "...wish...would..."_

_I stirred. The voices stopped; a dull ache thumped beneath my fur. I struggled, swimming up through the endless darkness, fighting my way to the light._ Wake... up..._ The light grew around me, enveloping me, as I clawed my way to the top, until finally_

my heavy eyelids fluttered open, hazy vision dancing before my eyes. I let out a low moan, blinking furiously as the two forms above me swam into focus. A leafeon and an espeon. The former gasped, shooting a low hiss to the latter, "I think he's waking up!"

I was lying on my side; I shifted, struggling to my stomach, sending little shooting glances of pain up my body. "Whe' am I?" I managed to mumble; my words were slurred, and even through the fog that encroached my mind, I felt a stirring of distaste. Wariness and nervousness crept into me as my red eyes narrowed, demanding, "_Who are you?"_ I struggled to a standing position, but pain exploded in my hind leg and I stumbled and fell like a helpless newborn eevee.

"Don't!" the espeon cried, racing up to me. Her muzzle was a few inches from mine as she went on, almost scoldingly, "Your left hind leg is broken. You're not going anywhere."

I bristled. "Is that a _threat?_"

"No, no," the espeon denied hastily. "It's just that you need more time to heal."

"You probably would've died if Lilac hadn't helped you," the leafeon asserted, speaking up for the first time.

The espeon - Lilac - nodded gravely, and said in a lesson-y sort of voice, "Ivy - that's her - " flicking her tail to the leafeon - "and Glimmer found you passed out and splashed with blood by the Purine River. You're lucky they brought you here right away." She nodded sagely, and began to list, "You had a broken leg, several cracked ribs, not to mention dozens of tiny punctures and cuts. I was worried you were going to develop hypothermia, but luckily we avoided that obstacle."

My had was spinning. What was going _on_ here? I'd already heard of three names - Lilac, Ivy, and Glimmer - and I'd evidently been here for a while. "Who'd Glimmer?" I finally asked.

"A glaceon," Ivy went on, and at my questioning look, she went on with a smile, "We're a group of eeveelutions. All of us."

My eyes widened. _Eeveelutions?_ Where _was_ I? What was with this - _society_ - of pokemon? "How many of there _are_ you?" I managed to get out.

Ivy cocked her head to one side, seeming to consider this. "Oh," she replied, "Probably twenty or so."

My mind spun like a hurricane, trying to process all of this startling new information. _Take it one step at a time, Je. One step at a time._ I'd fallen into the river. I'd blacked out. A leafeon, Ivy, and her friend, Glimmer, found me and brought me here. _Where is here?_ I shook my head in confusion. _Well, I never knew where I was in the first place, really._

I was startled out of my reverie when Ivy broke the tense silence. "I'll go get Feri. He wanted to be notified when you woke up," she informed me, and dashed quickly out of - well, where I was.

For the first time, I truly examined my surroundings. I was lying on a bed of moss, set out over loose, slightly damp brown soil. Solid rock curved around me and over my head, smooth, gray, and unchanging. Another bed of moss was prepared at the back of the small cave; Lilac's? Lined up against the wall opposite mine were neatly sorted piles of numerous berries, leaves, swathes of cobwebs, and other assorted items.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Lilac said softly, causing my eyes to dart, startled, to hers.

"Some espeon are known to have empathic powers," she remarked. "That's why we make good healers."

My gaze dropped to my paws, a familiar pain wracking my heart. _Kiera..._ But no. I pushed it away. I would leave here as soon as I could, after seeking directions from the locals. I would find Kiera. Find her, someone who knew her, and finally, _finally_ I would know the truth. I would be at peace. No more nightmares, no more doubts, and maybe... _maybe_ I would finally be reunited with my sister.

Pawsteps made my long black ears twitch. Ivy walked back into the cave, followed by whom I assumed was Feri. He was a large, regal-looking flareon, the long yellow ruff around his neck making him look much larger than I presumed he really was. So, a flareon - like my father, Ember.

I couldn't think about that now. I stared silently up at Feri, red eyes slightly narrowed. Those large crimson eyes unnerved most pokemon, but Feri didn't seem to be affected like a lot of others were. He stared back down at me sidelong, eyes angled down toward me. He held a strong air of distaste around him, and something else I couldn't quite place a paw on - foreboding?

Well, I _was_ an umbreon. A dark-type. I'd think most eeveelutions would be more understanding toward one of their own kind; but, admittedly, I hadn't had much contact with other eeveelutions in my lifetime, besides my own family. Still, Lilac and Ivy seemed pretty accepting of me.

Finally, Feri spoke. "So. You've woken." _Well, clearly._ "What's your name, umbreon?"

I responded low and quiet, carefully neutral. I could sense the tension in the air and did not want to break it. "Je."

"Hm." He half-snorted, seeming to consider this. "Lilac." She straightened attentive. This flareon clearly had a lot of power around here; the group's leader, perhaps? "How long will it take until he's healed?"

"Weeks, perhaps a month and a half. He has several breaks," she replied calmly.

"By then it'll be the middle of cold-time!" Ivy burst out.

I wondered why she cared. In my opinion, caring about others led to nothing but heartache. And besides, I wasn't staying here a minute longer than I had to.

"We'll talk about that then," Feri said shortly. _Good. We understand each other, then._ With a curt nod to me, he strode out of the cave.

Instantly, the tension created by his presence lifted. I could almost see the muscles relax beneath Ivy and Lilac's pelts. "So," Ivy said briskly. "Want me to show you around?" Lilac gave her a pointed glance, probably meaning, _He has a broken leg, idiot._

"_Ivy!_" a male voice called from somewhere outside the little cave.

"That's Crackle!" Ivy exclaimed. Dipping her head apologetically, she scurried out of the den, presumably to answer his call.

"Crackle is a jolteon," Lilac explained after an awkward pause. "Feri's right-paw pokemon, second-in-command, really."

I didn't reply, only laid my head on my paws. Pain still throbbed from every tiny nick and scratch, thumped consistently under my fur in my ribs and hind legs. I bit my tongue, staring quietly out at the entrance of the cave.

This was going to be a loooonnnng month.


	3. Trapped

**A/N: Wow, this chapter is late! However, I did (hopefully) make up for it by making it much longer than the past two. I'm not quite happy about it, though. Something seems a bit... off about it, like it's awkwardly written. Well, I _did_ write it in 3 sessions, so that could be it.**

**...Anyway. Reviews.**

**SpyroAgain - Oh, haha, I hadn't thought of that! I guess you're right, though, it's pronounced the same as 'fairy'. xD**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - *nods sagely* Yes. Yes it is.**

**Tamara the Hybridian - Fainted? Well, I'm glad you're alright, then. And thanks for your positive comments. Who's Shadow, though? It could be that it's someone totally obvious I'm just forgetting, but nothing springs to mind at the moment. ;)**

**...SO yeah. Sorry for the incredible lateness of this chapter. At least I'm not dropping off the face of the earth for 3- and 5-month chunks like I did during Friend Ball. *shudders* So! Hope you enjoy! ;3**

* * *

That first day was _not_ a very good one. I was confused, frustrated, embarrassed, and in pain. One moment I'd faced certain death; the next, I was in a new place surrounded by more pokemon than I'd ever seen in one place in my entire lifetime. (Except for maybe the psychic-type convention, which I'd tried hard to forget.)

Suddenly, after months of relying only on me, myself, and I, I had to look to other pokemon for care. Frankly, it was somewhat humiliating, and I didn't like it one bit. I wanted nothing but to limp out the entrance and high-tail it out of there before I got tangled up with their complicated community thing.

But, considering I could barely stand, that would be certain death. For now, I was stuck.

* * *

Early the next morning I got my first visitor. I was lying around, bored out of my mind, fantasizing about making a break for it and always coming back to my Mew-forsaken broken leg. Then I heard pawsteps, and Lilac, who'd recently woken up and was poking around at her various supplies, hurried over to the cave mouth and called, "Who is it?"

A muffled female voice responded, and Lilac replied, "Oh! Well, come on in, then."

Ivy trotted in, a cheerful expression plastered on her cream-colored muzzle. "Hiya, Je!" she exclaimed. "I thought I could show you around home today."

"I can't _walk_," I hissed through gritted teeth. _Or else I'd be out of here already._

Her smile faltered a bit. "Oh, just from the entrance to Lilac's den," she assured me hastily, and I stared at her in disbelief. No _way_ was I flicking crawling over there in front of them like a dang _invalid_. But everyone was looking at me expectantly. My pelt was hot with their stares.

So, regarding Ivy through narrowed eyes to let her know I was practically being _forced_, I stood. My ribs flared up, making me grunt and grit my teeth. Lilac hovered nervously nearby, as if wondering whether to order me back to bed. "You don't have to," Ivy corrected herself quickly.

_Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna just lay back down now._ Ears burning, I hobbled over to the cave's entrance, careful to hold my broken leg above the ground. Every step jostled my ribs, and my scratches ached. With a quiet grunt, I awkwardly laid down in front of the entrance. My broken leg got a jolt as it came to rest on the damp soil.

For a few moments, no one spoke. _This is crap. I just need to leave. Why can't they see that?_ But they knew as well as I that it would be near six weeks before my leg had healed well enough for me to be on my own. Six weeks of being miserable, cooped up in this cave, an antisocial umbreon surrounded by twenty-some social pokemon.

Ivy broke the silence by trotting over and lying down on my right, smiling in an attempt to restore the cheerful mood in the den. I felt my ears begin to burn. _Oh, great. Snuggled up to some random chick I barely know._

Shifting uncomfortably, then cursing myself for doing so, I looked up to take in the view of camp. My eyes widened involuntarily.

Even if this was practically the last place I wanted to be, it was pretty amazing. Ivy was accurate about the large amount of pokemon. They were everywhere I looked, more than I'd ever seen in one place at a time - in the wild, anyway. At least a dozen were currently in their "camp", munching on meat or berries, sprawled out in the sun, chatting to each other, tussling playfully with one another. There was at least one of every eeveelution - jolteon, flareon, vaporeon, espeon, glaceon, leafeon - except, I noticed, umbreon. I wondered if perhaps there were an umbreon or two out in the forest somewhere, since surely these pokemon weren't cooped up inside all the time.

There were also eevee, several that I could see, though they were outnumbered by eeveelutions. All of the eevee still looked young, like kids or young adolescents. I figured by the time they'd gotten older they would've evolved. The jolteon, flareon, and vaporeon in the camp confused me, however; did they have some elemental stones lying around somewhere near here?

Many burrows were also dug into the soft earth, presumably for the pack's inhabitants to live in. Some reclined beneath bushes, however, and there were several tumbled boulders near the edge of the camp, one of which was the little cave I'd been stuck in for the past couple of days. The largest, and furthest-out boulder had a burrow dug beneath it as well. The camp was ringed by large tangly bushes unidentifiable to me. I assumed they had to be whacked back - perhaps by a well-placed Ember or Razor Leaf - every so often so that they wouldn't encroach the eeveelutions' home.

Ivy broke the long silence by chirping, "Pretty nice place we've got here, huh?"

I gave a noncommittal grunt, though really I was impressed by the scale of this establishment. I'd known that growlithe, poochyena, and houndour ran in packs, but I'd never heard of one full of eeveelutions.

"Hey, Ivy, Je!" came a sudden excited cry. I whipped around to see a glaceon dashing toward us, the bluish loops dangling from her head swinging to and fro.

"Glimmer!" Ivy greeted her cheerfully.

I regarded the pale blue pokemon carefully as she bounded up to us, quickly positioning herself in front of us both. So this was the other pokemon who had saved my life. "So, I finally get to meet you!" Glimmer exclaimed, smiling at me. We lapsed into an awkward silence as she stared at me, as if expecting a heartfelt expression of gratitude for what she'd done for me.

"Thanks," I grunted finally, and she grinned rather fakely, as though she didn't know how to advance the conversation.

"I'm Ivy's best friend," she explained importantly, as if it were the most crucial piece of information I could know. She brightened up, adding, "Hey, would you like to meet some of the pokemon around here?" Before I could reply, she called out, "Hey, Lissa! Come meet Je!"

Another glaceon lying besides a bush looked up swiftly, a nervous look instantly entering her teal eyes. The two small eevee pups chatting by her paws, however, raced forwards without a second thought, tumbling across the clearing and under my nose before I could say "adorable". Which they certainly were; the pair, a boy and a girl, peeped up at me with wide, excited dark brown eyes. I stared down at them in surprise, wondering what I should say.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Glimmer asked fondly, as Lissa walked a bit cautiously up behind her young.

"I'm Blue!" the girl exclaimed quickly, giving a small bounce on her paws.

"And I'm Green," her brother informed me more seriously, a cute, slightly shy grin spreading across his muzzle.

Lissa hovered uncertainly a few paces behind them, having caught up; she looked as if she was wondering whether or not she should call them away from me, which struck me as odd. I was an outsider, so perhaps she instinctively mistrusted me and wanted to protect her pups. Yet, I'd done nothing to indicate I was dangerous. Still, I'd never lived in a closely-knit society such as this, so perhaps they were more wary of the pokemon outside their community simply _because_ they lived in a community.

"Did you really fall over the waterfall?" Blue squeaked, bounding up to me until her small twitching nose was less than an inch from mine.

I drew back instinctively, and managed a small, bemused smile, my anxiety and anger seeming to melt like mist on a sunny day. "Yes," I responded. "And I don't recommend it at all." My mood couldn't help but be lifted by the pups' awed, excited attention. I hadn't seen such cute little furballs in seasons; in fact, the last time I'd seen eevee pups was way back when I still lived with my parents in the forest. Mother had let Kiera and I tag along when she went to visit a friend who'd just had a litter of new pups. I'd thought they were ridiculously cute, and Kiera had fawned over them and exclaimed how she wanted pups just like them when she grew up.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Green asked innocently, "How did you get in the waterfall? Don't you know not to jump in?" Glimmer gasped beside me at his rude question.

My ears lowered slightly; I certainly wasn't going to tell him the entire searching-for-Kiera charade, so instead I responded with a touch of amusement, "Well, it makes a lot more sense when you're being chased by an entire flock of angry spearow."

Green looked slightly awed at this, as if he were wondering what I could possibly do to get an entire flock of furious flying-types on my trail. Lissa seemed to sense the impending story hanging in the air, and she spoke up, "I'm sure Je will want his rest now, pups. Broken legs don't heal on their own."

"Aww!" they protested, but their mother herded them away and back towards their bush, flashing a slightly annoyed look back at me.

I stared after them, a ghost of a smile lingering on my muzzle. I wasn't sure exactly what to make of them. Blue and Green were certainly adorable, and they'd taken my mind off of my troubles, at least for the short time I was speaking to them. Still, Lissa's reaction puzzled me. I supposed I'd find out why in time, but honestly, I was tired right now. At least Lissa was right about broken bones not healing by themselves.

I glanced up at Ivy for the first time since the pups had arrived; she'd been strangely quiet during the encounter. She seemed to be staring after the trio with a rather miffed expression on her face, but shook it off quickly once she noticed me. She smiled. "I suppose you're tired now?"

I stifled a yawn, instead choosing to say, "You're a mind-reader," as I dragged myself to my paws.

"See ya later, Je!" Glimmer chirped. She turned on Ivy, suggesting, "Why don't we go hunt together?"

I didn't catch Ivy's reply as I shuffled back to my bed of moss, but I assumed it was affirmative, as she didn't come in after me. "Those pups sure seemed to cheer you up," Lilac said from behind, startling me. "They're Glimmer's niece and nephew, you know; Lissa is her older sibling."

"Nice to know," I mumbled slightly sarcastically, as Lilac padded over to me and began to apply herbs to my wounds.

_Maybe this won't be so bad after all,_ I mused, then almost chastised myself for doing so. _Don't get involved with them. It will be... too hard. _Then I thought slightly grimly, _Finding Kiera will always have to be my priority. I can't forget that._

* * *

**A/N: OH YEAH! I forgot! I changed my penname! It is now x-SwiftyGirl-x, after a long two-year run with the name o-CrystalSakura-o. I just didn't really like the old one anymore. Actually, I hadn't liked it for a long time, but wasn't able to think of anything new. Until... inspiration struck! I just hope all my old fans will be able to find me, xD.**


	4. Pulse

**A/N: I'm baaaack, people! Sorry for the long, long wait. At least it wasn't 5 months or 3 months like it was a couple times during Friend Ball. Compared to that, 1 month isn't that bad, right? Right? '^_^ Anyway. I just lost motivation for a little while... Sometimes, you just get writers' block for a specific story and you just have to walk away from it for a while before you can write a good chapter again. I hope you like this one; we learn a bit about why the eeveelutions are nervous about Je!**

**So. Review replies.**

**SpyroAgain - Haha, yeah, Blue and Green are quickly growing on me too.**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - Starting to? Yeah I'd hope so after reading 16 chapters about him. xD Sorry, that probably sounded rude. He's gone through a lot of personality changes but I'm liking this one. :)**

**Tamara the Hybridian - Aw! I sure hope it's gone by the time you're reading this! xD**

**shadowstar901 - Nice to see ya, Shadowstar! I hope you enjoy the crazy ride I'm about to take you on, haha.**

**Hmm... some people who are usually big fans o' mine are missing. (Darkluvumbreon? Where are ya? You haven't reviewed since chapter 2! xD) Not to pressure people, haha.**

**Anyway, I'll shut up now. Enjoy the chapter. ;)**

* * *

A week. A week had already been taken off of my plan, my time to find Kiera. The air was sharpening, becoming colder as the days flew by. Frosts began to sheath the grass on each new morning.

In the week's time, I hadn't done much at all. Mostly, I'd just lain around. Glimmer would visit, or Ivy, or Blue and Green - with Lissa hovering nervously behind, of course, she still hadn't chosen to explain her reasons for that. Lilac would fuss about my leg while I waited, embarrassed, wishing she would just go away. Sometimes I would wish they would just ALL GO AWAY, and leave me alone, and never come back, but then Blue would start trying to show me how much faster she was than Green, and Green would pout and exclaim that wasn't fair, and Lissa would have to jump in and say yes, Blue was faster but Green was stronger, so there, it all evened out and stop fighting about it.

All in all, this place was confusing and I really wasn't sure what to think.

It wasn't until a week's time that anything _really_ interesting happened. I was in Lilac's cave, lying on my back, trying to think of how to ask the... pack's inhabitants how to get out of this forest without having to tell them my whole long confusing personal story. I still hadn't asked anyone yet. I had to find just the right way, precise, or there would be question after question.

Then a loud voice rang out in the center of the clearing. _"Go away, Kato!"_ Ivy's. My ears pricked in interest, and I quickly rolled onto my belly - well, as quickly as I could without jostling my injured leg. And ribs. Any movement was at least a bit painful lately, actually.

But back to the excitement. "Aw, Ivy, come on, y'know I didn't mean it..." A male voice. Slightly familiar... I'd heard this 'Kato' person a few times before, but he'd never actually spoken to me... Ah-ha! A jolteon. He was a young jolteon, I'd seen him a few times before...

"Oh, I'm sure you did, Kato. Just leave me alone, will you?" Ivy snapped. I strained forward, shuffling toward the entrance to see what was going on.

"I'm just trying to help you out, Ivy." His voice took on an almost... pleading?... tone. "All I've ever tried to done is help you. I care about you, you know."

"Come off it," she said, but her protest was weaker this time. I could see them now: Ivy, her head turned down, eyes on her paws. Troubled, conflicted, leafy tail lashing. Kato, his spiky yellow fur as smooth as he could probably manage, being a jolteon. He looked genuinely worried for her, but there was something else, too... longing? Craftiness, perhaps?

"It's just for your own good. Everyone's noticed, you know. Before long you'll be a social outcast. What do you even have to gain, hanging around a foreigner all the time?" His voice was lower now, quieter than the loud outburst I'd heard when the pair had first entered camp. "Think about it... he's an umbreon. The only reason he's even here is because Lilac is too nice to throw anyone out, and Feri is too fond of her to disagree. Remember Pulse?"

That seemed to make something snap in Ivy, because her head whipped up, her fur bristling. "Shut up, Kato! Just... shut up. I understand you're worried for me, but I'm my own person. You can't tell me what to do." With that, she bounded away, tail swirling, ducking inside of a bush that presumably belonged to her. Kato stared after her, angry and anguished, and let out a furious growl before he stalked back out of camp.

My ears flattened. What... had just happened? Kato seemed to be worried about Ivy... because of _me?_ I could understand their aversion to foreigners, but... he seemed to be specifically mentioning that I was an umbreon, as though that were a big deal. What? They didn't trust umbreons here? Like I'd been thinking before, dark-types were generally less-trusted, but... these were eeveelutions, here. Why would they be prejudiced against one of their own kind? And who was this mysterious 'Pulse'?

I sighed, laying my head on my paws. I couldn't puzzle this all out. I didn't have enough of the pieces.

What I did know, though, was I was the only umbreon here. There wasn't a single other one in the entire pack.

* * *

I didn't get any visits the next day. Needless to say, it was intensely boring. Ivy usually came every morning or afternoon. _Has Kato really convinced her to avoid me?_ I wondered. For some reason, that... hurt. I guess over the past week I'd began to consider Ivy as a friend. Blue and Green too, actually, and Lilac, with her caring ways. (Lilac had been increasingly busy lately, and both right now and during the Kato/Ivy episode yesterday she'd been out gathering herbs or whatnot.) _No!_ I thought fiercely. _I can't get attached, I just _can't._ I can't make it hard for me to leave, because first opportunity, I'm out of here,_ I reminded myself. Despite myself, I thought, _Besides... Kato can't have really convinced her, could he? She seemed angry at him at the end of that conversation..._

But it became apparent I wasn't going to get any answers on my own. And seeking out Ivy... no, I couldn't. I didn't want to be her friend in the first place. It was probably good that she was staying away from me, I reasoned, it will be all the easier to leave and no one will get hurt. Going to talk to her would just be too awkward, anyway, and I'd have to limp all around camp looking for her, which would be... embarrassing. And difficult. Difficult and embarrassing.

However, curiosity was eating me alive as I recalled Kato's words. Finally, that evening, I cornered Lilac in the cave. As she started to deposit some random leaves and berries she'd gathered during the day, I asked casually (at least I thought so), though suddenly, "Who's Pulse?"

Instantly, Lilac stiffened. Apparently this Pulse dude (dudette?) was a touchy subject. Several tense seconds elapsed before the espeon asked, calmly but firmly, "Where did you hear about him?"

I paused, trying to figure out what to tell her. I couldn't just say I'd eavesdropped on Kato telling Ivy to stay away from me, now could I? "From... Kato. He was talking to Ivy," I responded, trying to give as little information as possible.

"Trying to keep her away from you, wasn't he?" Lilac's tone was deadly calm. I bristled; how had she known? Dang it, I wasn't used to living in a bunch of pokemon who were used to, I don't know, making inferences and connecting the dots and socializing.

"...Yes," I admitted. When Lilac didn't reply for several moments, I demanded, "Who is he?"

"He was very important to our pack's past," the espeon said carefully. Her lavendar-colored tail lashed slightly, and I stared her down with my large red eyes, insistent. I wasn't letting this opportunity get away. I was going to chase it down, like a juicy bit of prey. "He was an umbreon. Like you. An outsider." Lilac's sentences were short and clipped, as if she, like me earlier, was trying to describe him in as little detail as she could get away with. "He... betrayed us. We chased him out. And ever since then, a lot of us haven't exactly put our trust in umbreons. Or outsiders. And you're both," she stated matter-of-factly. "So... if pokemon give you looks, if, if some don't seem to trust you... you'll know why," she finished awkwardly. Obviously, this was not a topic she was comfortable discussing.

Silence.

Pulse. Of course. That explained it. The weird looks some pokemon gave me, Lissa's reluctance to let me play with her pups, me being the only umbreon here, Kato's worry... it all fit together now. Pulse, an umbreon, a foreigner, a betrayer. Me. An umbreon, a foreigner. A betrayer? Not yet. Some day? Maybe. If you counted running away, without warning, when all they had been to you but kind, as betrayal...

I blinked, coming back to reality. Lilac had started to speak again. "Kato, he's just worried for Ivy. He loves her, you know. Been chasing after her for months. Ivy, she's not sure what to think of him just yet. I think she believes he's a bit too arrogant, too competitive, too aggressive. But he's a good pokemon at heart... he doesn't want her to get hurt." She turned imploring violet eyes on me.

I mumbled something that probably resembled "okay" and turned my gaze away from her. Back to camp. Where Ivy was just slipping out of her bush, Glimmer greeting her enthusiastically, Kato padding up with a, yes, cocky grin on his face. No... I couldn't want her friendship. Or anyone else's. Not Blue's, not Green's, not Lilac's, not Glimmer's. Not anyone's.

I closed my eyes. _Keira... wait for me. I'm coming, as quickly as I know how._

But every time I tried to picture her face, another sprung up instead, one I didn't even know for sure but imagined vividly.

Pulse.

* * *

***semi-dramatic ending***


	5. Coming of Age

**A/N: Here we are again! And guess what? IT'S SUMMER BREAK. Now I might actually be able to get out chapters once a week like I've been saying. :D So... reviews.**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - Haha. Yeah. There may be one coming up... *shifty eyes***

**Tamara the Hybridian - That seems to be the case, with Blue and Green. x) And it would take quite a lot of wheedling to get his past out of him, that's for sure. Is anyone in the pack up to the task? We'll see...**

**Shadowstar901 - Maybe a little... though this isn't the weirdest thing I've thought of. (You should read some of my awful spoofs. Though I would probably never post them. xD)**

**On to the story! More explaining, yay!**

* * *

Lilac: One more time, Je.

Me: …

Lilac (sharply): Je.

Me: …

Fine.

Those are the sounds of Lilac forcing me to exercise my leg, something I have decided I loathe doing. My second week with the eeveelutions was drawing to a close, and Lilac had decided it was high time I started strengthening my bad leg and/or ribs. Not by walking on it, or anything. That wouldn't come until later, she said (which I expected I would loathe even more).

Instead, she had decided I needed to _stretch_, of all things. Stretch out my bad leg as far as it could go. Five, ten, fifteen times. Twist and turn to stretch my ribs. Of course, this hurt, like I was trying to stretch until my muscles snapped in half, but apparently it was necessary.

Ivy hadn't been coming by recently. I had to wonder if she believed Kato. I'd thought she was smarter than that, but she always seemed gullible. Too nice and trusting, the kind you'd take advantage of if you were into that sort of thing. It was better for both of us, though. When I leave neither of us will feel the sting, and that's completely fine with me.

Glimmer still dropped by every once in a while, as did Blue and Green. Though Lilac had banned the latter pair from visiting unless under supervision, after Blue pounced on me and accidently jostled my leg, causing me to reflexively almost bite her head off.

Though I was still determined not to make "friends" here, their visits were actually welcome. If I were to be left alone with my own thoughts day after day, I'd surely drive myself insane, chasing my logic in circles, old experiences pounding on memory's door, over-puzzling what I must do and what I must not and everything everyone has done.

I was broken out of my reverie when Lilac said, almost off-handedly, "Slant and Tessa are coming of age today."

Well, that's news to me. Do tell, Lilac. "What do you mean?" I asked, a slight tone of puzzlement entering my voice.

She blinked, purple eyes stretched wide, as if she were honestly surprised I was not already enlightened on this subject. "No one's told you? In two weeks?" _That is what I just said._ I simply shook my head, red eyes piqued with curiosity.

"Well." Lilac straightened up slightly. "When an eevee becomes older... Well, it really depends on their personality when they're ready, the mother usually decides when and the whole litter goes at once. But anyway, around a year, year and a half, a litter of eevees go through their Coming-of-Age ceremony. They go to Evolite Peak, about a day's journey from here. There, the pack's most sacred treasures are hidden: a Water Stone, Thunderstone, and Fire Stone." _That_ explained all the jolteons and flareons and vaporeons running around. Quite an interesting tradition, as well; certainly unique. I couldn't help but wonder how they'd obtained the evolutionary stones in the first place. But...

"What about you?" I inclined my head toward Lilac. "How did you evolve? And pokemon like Glimmer and Ivy?"

Lilac's eyes sparkled. Clearly, this was one of her most cherished memories. "Well, you know that old legend saying leafeons and glaceons can evolve only in special places in the Sinnoh region?" I nodded; it was well-known among eevees and their evolutions. "Well, that's not _strictly_ true. There's some sort of... energy in certain locations, an evolutionary energy that can cause eevees to become a leafeon or glaceon. It's rather mysterious, actually." Her eyes gleamed as I gazed up at her with rapt attention.

"But, scattered throughout the other regions are areas where eevees have been known to evolve into leafeons and glaceons. Long ago, our ancestors lived in one such place... Legend has it that something or someone forced them out, and when they left, they broke off pieces of the special rocks and carried them with them, all the way here." She trailed off, a distant look in her eyes. I waited for her to continue on her own, but she didn't.

"And?" I prompted.

Lilac looked startled, as though I'd jolted her out of deep reminiscing. "Oh! Yes. Now, they're known as the twin rocks Mossy Rock ad Frosty Rock, atop Eviolite Peak. When eevees arrive, I've been told they're drawn to one evolutionary stone or another, or to one of the rocks. This will cause them to evolve immediately," she explained. "They'll spend the night and return the next day. However, if they're not drawn to any, like me, they'll spend the night at the very top, alone. If they're destined to be an umbreon, they'll wake up at midnight and evolve. If an espeon, at noon," she finished proudly.

_Amazing._ How did that work, though, the umbreon/espeon thing? I supposed they were so happy and full of anticipation at evolving, if they were meant to be a psychic- or dark-type, they were joyful enough to evolve then and there. Memories of my own evolution flashed through my head. So misguidedly happy in the heat of battle, so determined to win, that I evolved. I closed my eyes, remembering the horrible feeling of the rest of my memories slipping away, gone forever, or so I had thought... _No! Stop it!_ I ordered myself harshly.

Suddenly, a loud whoop broke out. My head whipped up, long black ears twitching. There was a cry of "Kato's back!"

I struggled to my paws. Yes, struggled. Standing up is not so very easy with a bad leg. I limped across to the entrance, poking my head out of the small cave, ears pricked.

Kato burst into camp from and entrance between two shady bushes. He was followed quickly by a pair of brothers, Swift and Shard: a vaporeon and glaceon, respectively. There was a slight rustling noise and a frightened-looking poochyena pup poked its head out from around Shard's legs. My eyes widened. What was a poochyena pup doing here, in Kanto, in the eeveelution's camp?

I spotted Ivy, staring in surprise at the pup; Blue and Green, peeking out by Lissa with ravenous curiosity; Feri, shouldering his way through the crowd to demand of Kato where it had come from.

"Well," Kato drawled, "I found it wandering around near Purine Stream, all by itself.

"I got lost!" it - he - squeaked. He was young, couldn't be much older than Blue and Green. In fact, the aforementioned young eevees looked like they wanted to run right up to him and start playing, but Lissa shushed them fiercely and pricked her ears to hear better.

"Where are you from?" Feri demanded. Crackle had joined him now, the jolteon looking down at the pup with cold indifference.

The little poochyena flinched back before piping up bravely, "Th-the mightyena pack, not far north of here! I'm Little Yip!" He bared his small white fangs, tiny claws scraping the earth.

Feri looked faintly amused at this proclamation. "Let me guess. This was the First Test?"

At this, Little Yip's ears flattened, his shaggy gray tail dropping limply to the dust. He nodded sadly. "Yeah, only I got lost and came here," he mumbled. Suddenly, he sprang to his paws, dark fur along his spine bristling with alarm. "Don't take me back with you! _Please!_ They'll never let me pass, and, and - "

Crackle cut the pup off with a sharp growl. "What else do you expect us to do? We can't have wayward pups straying here all the time."

Little Yip looked miserably down at his paws. "Well, I dunno..." He looked up hopefully, yellow eyes pleading. "Well, you could just take me back to the edge of our borders! Please?_Please?_ I'm sure I could get back from there!"

Kato rolled his eyes. "But _you_, little wanderer, must be taught a lesson. Failing your First Test will do just fine."

"But - " The little pup looked crestfallen.

Lilac spoke up beside me, forcing me to look away from the interesting scene for the first time. She looked thoughtful as she spoke. "I think you should. It would spare us a lot of trouble." She smild with a chuckle. "What would you rather, march into the heart of Rico's territory and thrust the pup at him or drop him off at the border and spare us a long trip?"

Feri considered for a moment, then nodded. "Good point, Lilac." Little Yip looked delighted, while Kato - who obviously had been hoping for some excitement - muttered under his breath. "Ivy, Rustle, you take him back." He flicked his tail at Ivy and another leafeon who looked to be about the same age as her, though his leafy parts were brown instead of green._Her brother?_ I guessed.

The pair nodded, and murmuring to the young pup, started back out of camp.

I leaned back with a slight yawn. Coming-of-age, indeed.

* * *

I am the shadow

You barely see

The darkness of the moon

But before you know for sure,

I am gone.

.

In the end,

We are all running from something

And I am no different.

At once,

I run from my past

And toward it,

Seeking those who were lost.

.

If you would take it away,

I would be nothing

Empty.

If it should end

I would have nowhere to go.

But then, it is my fate

To walk the lonely path.

.

And now I am trapped...

Lost,

Melting.

Struggling

To keep the ice in my heart.

If it should shatter,

It is the only thing holding me together

And I might finally

Break.

So many things

I've tried to forget

Tearing me to pieces.

But then, it is my fate

To walk the lonely path.

.

Wait for me.

I am coming.

Soon I will pierce this maze.

Do not look for me.

.

For after all, it is my fate

To walk the lonely path.

* * *

**A/N: BONUS POEM. It's about Je. I'm not really sure if I like it, it's kinda awkward, but I thought I'd post it. ;) Also, more about the poochyena/mightyena pack in the next chapter. :) Which I've already started on. I might actually update on time for once! O.O**


	6. Explosion

**A/N: I had this chapter finished a couple days after I posted chapter 6, but I had to make you wait. :) I got on a writing spree and have like this and 2 other chapters~ ^-^ So. Reviews.**

**Tamara the Hybridian - Thanks, I put some thought into it. The eeveelution place. Not the poem. That was me running off of pure inspiration, like most of my poems. x) And 'clan'? Is my Warriorcats inspiration that obvious? :O**

**PhantoMNiGHT - Hehe, they were thinkin' about it. *pokes Kato* And nah, I'm pretty sure you spelled it right. :)**

**SpyroAgain - That's funny. :) Once I had a really weird dream where I was on this floating platform made out of ice cream, and this random person challenged me to a pokemon battle, and I let out a charmander I think. o.0 Then a bunch more weird stuff happened. And yes, they SO need a dark-type gym! I didn't know they never made one. Shame on you, Nintendo!**

**Okay, well, enjoy the chapter! Oh, and another bonus: a list of everyone in the pack. :)**

* * *

BONUS: The Pack

Feri - Male flareon, the pack's leader.

Crackle - Male jolteon, father of Kato & Feri's right-paw pokemon.

Lilac - Female espeon, the unofficial pack healer. Daughter of Petal, aunt of Ivy and Rustle.

Wisp - Female espeon, mother of Tessa & Slant.

Swift - Male vaporeon, brother of Shard, mate of Lissa, father of Blue and Green.

Shard - Male glaceon, brother of Swift, uncle of Blue & Green.

Kato - Male jolteon, son of Crackle.

Glimmer - Female glaceon, sister of Lissa, aunt of Blue and Green.

Lissa - Female glaceon, sister of Glimmer, mate of Swift, mother of Blue and Green.

Ivy - Female leafeon, niece of Lilac, granddaughter of Petal, sister of Rustle.

Rustle - Male leafeon, nephew of Lilac, grandson of Petal, brother of Ivy.

Tessa - Female eevee, daughter of Wisp, sister of Slant.

Slant - Female eevee, daughter of Wisp, sister of Tessa.

Cory - Male eevee, son of Growl, brother of Pine.

Pine - Male eevee, son of Growl, brother of Cory.

Blue - Female eevee, daughter of Lissa and Swift, niece of Glimmer and Shard, sister of Green.

Green - Male eevee, son of Lissa and Swift, nephew of Glimmer and Shard, brother of Blue.

Petal - Old female espeon, mother of Lilac, grandmother of Ivy and Rustle.

Growl - Male flareon, missing a front leg & blind in one eye. Father of Cory and Pine.

Je - Male umbreon, an outsider of the pack. Recovering from a broken leg.

* * *

"What were they talking about? First Test? Failing?" I was stretched out in Lilac's den on my back, bored (yes, bored enough to attempt rolling onto my back), while she hummed to herself and nosed around in some Oran and Rawst berries, muttering to herself about how if Cory got in one more scrape there wouldn't be enough to last through cold-time.

"Huh? Oh. There are three other packs up that way - " she waved her tail vaguely in the air - "only they're mightyena and arcanine and houndoom packs." Well, arcanine made sense, but mightyena and houndoom? Those were native to Johto and Hoenn. Seeing my puzzled look, Lilac chuckled. "It's said that years and years ago, a trainer came up from Hoenn, a canine enthusiast. He had all sorts of canine pokemon and meant to establish some sort of training place up here. But some of the pokemon wouldn't stand for that and escaped first chance they got, including a few pairs of mightyenas and houndooms. The rest is history," she explained. I grunted slightly. Trainers. Always muddling up everything, including nature, it seemed.

"Anyway," Lilac went on, "they have different traditions and customs from us. They have odd names, like that Little Yip fellow. When they do something important or different, they can even have their names changed, to Sharp Yip, or Little Growl, or whatever. Strange, but that's their way, I suppose." She shrugged.

"They also have tests to prove their worth. Pups take the First Test, finding their way back to their camp from the far end of their territory. When they get older there's a Second Test and a Third Test, too. If you fail you can be denied privileges in the pack, or if you finish exceptionally well you can be given more importance." She wrinkled her nose. "The three packs are much more warlike than we are, almost ruffians, really. They're always fighting amongst themselves and training their pups for war. Weak members of the pack can even be kicked out. They're highly territorial, too. If another predator passes through, they'll try to chase them out or capture them, if they're from another pack, for concern of 'their' prey. Our way, you know, anyone can come through, as long as they don't threaten us," Lilac finished.

Well, that was a lot of new information to take in. "Do they ever try to fight you?" I wondered.

"Not often, though we do occasionally get in skirmishes," Lilac admitted. "If any of us wanders over their borders, though, they'll either be held hostage or chased off. It's a huge hassle, so we try to stay away from them, one of the reasons we decided to just drop that pup off at the border the other day. Although," and here she smiled craftily, "the packs usually try to keep themselves on our good side. That way, if they get in trouble with any of the other packs, they can try and persuade us to help them. I remember seasons ago, when Rico's pack was locked in war with Storm's, and asked for our help. We did, but not after they promised we could hunt and gather in their land for a season." She winked slyly.

Hm. Their society was a lot more complicated than I had thought. In my home forest, there hadn't been any packs with their strict rules and complex social interactions. There were only lone pokemon living in families. Sometimes we bickered, sometimes we helped each other out, mostly we just coexisted. Predators with predators, prey with prey. There were occasional festivals, though. Celebrations to usher in bloom-time or sun-time, to commemorate the first Oran berries ready to harvest.

I mulled over this new information while Lilac went away to drag Cory, whining about why his Coming-of-Age hadn't arrived yet, away from Slant and Tessa, who were about to leave for theirs.

* * *

Lilac had told me it usually took a couple of days for a litter of eevees to return after coming of age. Those couple of days were enough to send the pack into a hive of activity, gossiping constantly about what the sisters would return as. Wisp, their mother, was a gentle, fragile thing of a vaporeon who smiled shyly anytime anyone mentioned her pups. From her dancing eyes, you could tell she was really bursting with pride and joy inside.

In those two days, I heard more about Tessa and Slant than I had ever wanted to know.

Tessa was a large, brawny, stocky eevee. Impulsive, a bit hotheaded, maybe not the brightest firefly in the forest. However, no one could deny her devotion and loyalty, both to her sister and to the pack. Rumor had it Cory had his eye on her. By the way he blushed and denied it vehemently every time anyone brought it up, you knew it was true.

Meanwhile, Slant was small and slight, shy like her mother. She was an excellent hunter but held back in battle. She liked to keep to herself but was quite smart and innovative. Pokemon were betting on Tessa becoming a flareon or jolteon and Slant, a vaporeon like Wisp. Of course, it was impossible to really tell, but that didn't stop anyone from making predictions. Evidently, there wasn't often a coming-of-age, and they caused quite a bit of excitement.

The two days dragged by and the third dawned bright and clear. Only a few clouds scudded along the ice-blue sky, while the pale sun sent out a few weak, searching fingers of sunshine to melt last night's frost. It was only a matter of time before the snows came, and then it would be a downward spiral into cold-time. Brown-time seemed to be taking its dying breaths, summoning chilly gusts of wind to strip the trees of their last leaves.

The sun rose in the sky, and pokemon went about their business. Several went out to hunt or forage for edible roots, plants, and berries. (Quoth Lilac: "Bring any healing berries to me, please! That includes you, Cory, I don't care how delicious they are!")

But Tessa and Slant didn't come. Wisp stationed herself by the camp entrance, fishlike vaporeon tail whisking worriedly over her paws. "Maybe one was an espeon," Ivy suggested helpfully. "They don't wake up 'til noon. They'd get back later." Wisp flashed her a grateful look.

Noon came and went. No Tessa and Slant.

I was lying at the edge of the cave mouth to soak up all the drama. Lilac had gone out to remove herself from all the stress, muttering some excuse about keeping the eevees from eating all the useful berries because apparently they were getting stupider every generation. Nice, Lilac. She was nearly old enough to be my mother and sure sounded like it sometimes.

Anyway... back to the present. I called out to the nearest eeveelution - coincidentally, it was Glimmer - and asked, "Doesn't anyone ever come back late?"

She cast an anxious glance back at me. "Once in a while... Very, very rarely, an eevee can actually die or get captured during coming-of-age, because of being attacked by a predator or a trainer or something. But again, that hardly ever happens," she assured me.

"Hm." The mention of trainers made my ears flatten. Mew knows I wished I could forget those months.

Time drifted by. Lilac came back. Wisp was beside herself with worry. The pack made valiant attempts to comfort her. (They didn't succeed.)

The day floated to a close. "We have to look for them!" Wisp begged, and eventually several groups of pokemon went out to tramp through the forest in search of the missing eevees.

I went to sleep.

* * *

_I was in the forest. My broken leg was totally fine, a spryness in my limbs I hadn't felt for weeks. I felt like I could run for miles._

_But I didn't. I glanced behind me, where Blue and Green were tumbling along, staring at everything wide-eyed. Every time I checked on the fluffy little pups a feeling of dread seeped through me, deepening with every minute that passed. But I had to. I had to lead them there. My conscience screamed against it, but my paws took me forward, forward, and the tug was so persistent, always there, always pulling..._

_"I'm tired," Green complained, looking like he was about to plop down in the dust._

_"No, no, we're almost there," I said hurriedly, nosing the pup forward._

_I led them to the edge of the forest, where a strange building stood, tiny, missing its front wall, painted pure white. My ears flattened as I nudged Blue and Green across the threshold. I took a shuddery breath, knowing what I would see._

_Shelves. Stocked with row upon row of pokeballs. Each holding a pokemon captive. Feri. Tessa. Slant. Glimmer. Lilac. Ivy._

_"Wh-where are we?" Blue piped up behind me, trembling._

_I closed my eyes, aware of what would happen next. Footsteps. Then, a sound I knew too well: pokeballs hitting home, popping open. The pups would be dissolving into red light now, just another addition to the collection._

_"Well done, Je." I almost jumped out of my skin at the voice. The one I never wanted to hear again. "Retur - "_

_"No!" I burst out, suddenly desperate with panic. I bolted past his legs, flying out into the forest, running at top speed. Then the scene was changing, trees melting into the ground, replaced by tall brick buildings. The buildings of Saffron City._

_"JE!" I froze, heart plummeting. Her voice. I turned around, slowly, slowly._

_Kiera was in front of me. On the ground. Slumped, lifeless. Crimson splashed the asphalt, one side of her fur singed. Kiera._

_Fear and horror spiked me, red-hot, as her body began to move. She raised her head, eyes dull, sporting a crooked leer. "You kill me," she rasped out. "You killed me, brother." She let out the scariest laugh I've ever heard and probably ever will hear._

_"Well done." I whipped around. There he was. He'd caught up to me. Arrogant grin, friend ball cocked to throw._

_"NOOO_  
OOOO - "

"Je! For Mew's sake, wake up!"

The voice was female, exasperated. Lilac.

My eyes shot open, frantically searching the ground for a moment before I realized where I was. I slowly looked up, blurred vision clearing to reveal Lilac's concerned face. But now, all she reminded me of was Kiera, from my dream, battered and broken, but speaking, taunting... I flinched, quickly dropping my gaze back to my paws.

"You were twitching and yelling out in your sleep," Lilac went on. "I had to wake you up. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Her honeyed voice slipped into my ears and down my throat, squirming its way into my heart to try to steady the frantic thud-thudding.

"No," I managed to say. It sounded like it came from far away, distant. My ears were stuffed with cotton. I was standing now, my paws itching to run.

"Je?" It took me a long time to recognize who had called to me and what they had said.

"I'm going," I told her faintly.

"Wait, what? Je, you can't - "

I brushed past her, as if in a dream. I started to speed up, bad leg held above the ground. Then, I was running, all-out running, as fast as possible hobbling along with three legs, racing past Wisp whoseemedtobekeepingsentry, intotheforest andoverthehill .

I was in the forest for the first time since breaking my leg, flying past the trees, my gait uneven, everything blurring together into a huge mesh of green.

I'd thought the nightmares had gone.

Two weeks, nightmare-free. My sleep undisturbed, deep and long and dreamless. The longest since my escape. I'd thought they were gone forever.

I was a fool.

_Stupid. I'm so_ stupid.

My chest was heaving, my breath coming in short, ragged pants. Disgust burst inside of me. I was weak. Half a month with almost no physical exercise had reduced me to this? This was the body that used to walk sunrise to sunset, with little food, whatever the weather, for months on end. My lip curled. I had depended on myself. I was already beginning to depend on others again.

I didn't need anyone. Not a trainer, not a pack. And no one else needed me. Wrong - no one else could withstand having me around. I destroyed everything in my path. Everything.

My good legs were hurting now too. Muscles burning. Paw pads sore. Lungs screaming for me to stop. I wouldn't let them. I didn't deserve it.

Had I really thought I could stay there? Lazing around, becoming weak, letting my leg heal? Making connections everywhere, leaving destruction in my wake? After sic weeks, there was no way I was going to leave. Foolish. Stupid.

No more of that. I was getting out of here. _Now._ I could manage just fine with a broken leg. Sure, I'd make slower progress, prey would be harder to catch. But I'd endure I was strong. I could make it. I didn't need to live, only to survive.

I was becoming disconnected from my limbs now. They moved clumsily, slowing me, twigs snapping in my path, branches whipping into me, thorns snarling my fur. My paws felt like stones.

Suddenly, searing, blasting pain erupted in my leg. My bad one. In a split second I realized the strain had been too much - I'd stepped on it. I dropped to the ground like a boulder, rolling across the soggy leaves. I crashed down a hill, rolling over and over, my leg feeling like it was being ripped apart viciously from within, sharp jabs of pain spiking every part of the rest of me.

An explosion went off in my head, seemingly wracking my brain, cracking my skull. A wave of blackness seared across my vision.

I struggled to rise, but the shadows lunged and wrapped around me, pulling me down, down, down, into the endless darkness.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNN**

**Also: Longest chapter yet! :D**


	7. Custody

**A/N: Here we arrree! Sorry this one is kind of late, I've had it written for a while, but then I lost the notebook it was written in, then I had to go in and edit it to stick a last-minute addition in, and yeah it basically all added up to the chapter not being on time. And it's a bit short, not much action, but hey! We get more information. And news on the latest twist I've thrown at poor Je here. [Really, I'm too cruel to the guy. x)] **

**Oh! And also I combined chapters 2 and 3, which really should have been a single chapter already and are still short put together. Thank goodness. So anyway. Reviews.**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - Celebration, lol. And the nightmares? Usually when someone says 'you don't want to know' it makes me really want to know but this time, I suspect yeah, I actually don't want to know. o.o**

**SpyroAgain - Lol xD Well considering one of the story's characters is marked as 'umbreon' and we actually saw him evolve in the last book... heh. It's okay, sometimes I'm also ridiculously oblivious. (i.e., I wander around the house looking for something for like 10 minutes and then I come back to the area I first looked and it's right in plain sight. xD)**

**Okami Saphira - Thanks and welcome to the story! And yes, chapter length is one of the things I need to improve on. :)**

**Tamara the Hybridian - Okay, good. It's one of the series I enjoy more and I've written quite a few stories on it. Even though it's really below my reading level and the newest books are... a lot worse than the first ones. It's the concept I really like about them though. Anyway... I'm rambling. I got a bit of inspiration from those for this, but I've tried to distance the packs in this as far as I can from the warrior cats clans. And yes, I have probably read waaaayyyy too much of that series to think that every time someone says 'clan' they are referring to that. xD**

**Shadowstar901 - Poor Je indeed! And I both hate and love cliffhangers. Hate because they are infuriating to read when it is someone else's story, love because in my own stories it basically means the readers have to come back. xD (Wow, I am overusing that smiley.)**

* * *

When I began to falteringly, hazily come back into reality, it was all I could do not to cry out in pain. My head was throbbing, my ribs acting up again, and my leg... Mew, my leg. I stole a glance at it, half-expecting a mass of blood and bone, but it looked unharmed... if you didn't count the fact it was sticking out at a rather odd angle. I bit my tongue to keep quiet...

...before it occurred me to wonder where exactly I was.

No, I was not in the forest at the base of a hill, as I'd expected. I was lying under a bush, a web of leaves and branches blocking my view. Beneath me was soft rich dirt. Wha...? My hazy, befuddled mind supplied the perfect word to fit the occasion.

"So, you're awake."

I half jumped out of my skin when a feminine voice sounded behind me. I turned slowly, taking utmost care not to jostle my leg any more than was necessary.

Staring back at me was another umbreon.

She was a female, sleek and smooth-pelted, but her long ears were lowered and an awkward look on her midnight-black face. An eevee peeked out around her - also a girl - stout, strong, and looking incredibly annoyed. Suddenly, I realized I recognized the eevee.

It was Tessa.

Which means the umbreon could only be Slant. Somehow, some way, I'd found the missing eevee sisters - or they'd found me. But where was I? Why hadn't they returned? Why had only Slant evolved? And most of all, why did Tessa look so damn ticked off?

"Where are we?" I muttered around the pounding of my headache. (No, seriously, it felt like a rhydon was trying to bash in my skull.)

"Why don't you look outside and see for yourself, pipsqueak?" I started, neck fur bristling. Behind Slant and Tessa rose a hulking mound of orange, black, and tan fur. My first thought was Pyro! and I tensed up, set to run, when I realized that no, this was not Pyro. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It was, however, certainly an arcanine. A bit on the small side, smaller than Pyro anyway, but still a foot or two taller than I and looking just about as ticked as Tessa was.

"Who _are_ you?" I demanded.

"Who are _you?_" he shot back. "I happen to be called Burning Coal. Nowadays, though, I believe I prefer to go by Coal," he sniffed.

"Je. Pleased to make your acquaintance," I muttered sarcastically.

"And if you _must_ know," Tessa broke in suddenly. "We are right in the middle of Rico's pack. Under a bush, which I have named the Prisoner Bush of Doom and Despair."

This earned her a glare from Slant and a suddenly very wide-eyed gaze from me which begged a single question: _What in Mew's name?_

What I did manage to finally stutter out was, "And how exactly have we come to be in the Prisoner Bush of Doom and Despair?"

"Ask _Tessa,_" Slant muttered darkly.

"Don't blame _me!_" Tessa exploded. "_I_ wanted to go the _other_ way, but _no-o-o!_"

"You got lost," I asked flatly, more like stated.

"Not exactly," Tessa grumbled, shooting her sister a glare. "You tell him, Slant."

"Yes, do tell," Coal interrupted. "They haven't cared to share this with me yet."

This earned the arcanine a glare from all three of the rest of us, which lasted ten seconds or so when Slant broke the silence by mumbling, "Fine. We made it to Eviolite Peak right on time - " (_"no thanks to you,"_ I barely heard Tessa mutter under her breath, but Slant either didn't hear or didn't care) " - and neither of us were drawn to anything, so we just slept at the top figuring we'd be umbreons or espeons, and - "

"- And next thing I knew it was morning and Slant was waking me up and she was an umbreon and I hadn't evolved at all!" Tessa broke in. Tears budded in her round brown eyes as she shared the unfortunate tale.

I couldn't say that surprised me very much - I didn't quite believe all this "drawn to" and "magicky" stuff - but to Tessa, it seemed unthinkable. Coal had the callousness to actually remark, "Oh, you eeveelutions' high-and-mighty Evio-magic-evolvey ceremony-thing. It didn't work, what a surprise."

"I'll have you know it's worked plenty of times, _just not on me!_" Tessa burst out, the last few words a wail. She buried her face in Slant's soft fur, suppressed sobs shaking her shoulders as she clearly attempted to get back in control of herself.

After several moments, when she seemed more calm, I asked carefully, "And what happened then?"

"I couldn't return to the pack like this, I just couldn't," Tessa sniffled, her voice muffled by her sister's glossy coat, as Slant bent down to rest her chin on the eevee's forehead. "We were gonna hide out. Become outlaws. 'Til I evolved, anyway. But it didn't w-work out." Tessa suddenly sounded much younger than she really was. Not an adolescent, but a scared young child. Anyone would think Slant was an older sister, a young aunt even, not from the same litter. That's when I remembered: evolution changes not only the body, but the mind. _Especially when friend balls are involved,_ I thought, remembering my own evolution with an inward cringe.

"We didn't know where to go." Slant spoke up, voice soft and feathery. "While we were looking for a place to stay, we wandered over into Rico's territory. Of course they thought we were 'stealing' their prey, or berries, or whatever, so here we are. In custody."

"Oh, well you probably were," Coal cut in abrasively. "You were in their territory, anyway, which is in itself inexcusable!"

"Yeah, to you!" Tessa shot back. "Why are you so preoccupied with all that anyway? With all your 'borders' and 'stealing' and 'wars' and oh-so-precious Tests, it's a wonder you manage to even get any food at all! Live and let live, and maybe half your pups won't die young in pointless battles!"

Coal bared his teeth in a snarl. "And what's so great about _your_ way of life, anyway? No structure, no purpose, no honor! No alpha, no beta, no omega, no real form of training! What are you going to do when a real threat comes around? Die, that's what!"

"Hey!" The short, harsh sound came from Slant, who was glaring vehemently at the two of them. "Let's not start a fight, alright?" Coal and Tessa exchanged glances, gazes sliding from Slant to each other, and settled down for shooting daggers at each other rather than having a yellfest in the middle of a hostile mightyena pack. Slant glanced back at me, gaze exasperated and apologetic. "They've been at it for a day now. Anyways... a few hours ago they found you over their border as well and brought you in. And here we are." She let out a sigh, long ears drooping.

Anxiety rose in my chest, fluttering dark wings like a nervous spearow. "Do pokemon - get captured by them often? What do they do with their prisoners?"

Coal let out a harsh laugh. "To your first question, yes, somewhat, once a month or so, though usually not four at a time, and to your second, plenty of things. Ransom them. Demand something in return. Make threats if it isn't given, though that doesn't seem to be a popular tactic with the eeveelutions, you give up too easily. We usually don't have to go to the extra work of threatening you. Anyway, there are quite a few things they can ask for, plus the fact that they've got three of you, so it's likely to be something rather large."

Slant's ears flattened, worry pervading her gaze. I wondered what she was so anxious about - after all, it was likely no harm would come to us, even if this was a bit of a stressful situation - when I realized. She was worried the eeveelution pack wouldn't trade back for us: a couple of umbreon and an eevee, two an inherently mistrusted species, one a not-particularly-friendly foreigner, and a pair who had just tried to abandon their pack.

"Wisp was frantic with worry, you know," I told her softly. Slant perked up slightly, before looking awkward again. Yeah, people cared about her, but now she was realizing what consequences her actions actually had on others.

But me... well. Who was on my side? Eccentric Ivy, a couple of pups, a quiet healer. Glimmer, maybe, though I wasn't particularly close to her - I got the feeling she was just sidling up to me because I was a novelty. Granted, I hadn't done much to make friends in the pack. I doubted those few could convince Feri to give up anything of worth for my return.

Yes, if I wanted to get out of here, like so many other times, I would be on my own.

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**A/N: I repeat- DUN DUN DUN DUNNN! I bet no one was expecting that, huh? Not from your reviews, anyway! :D**


	8. Pack

**A/N: OH. MY. WORD. I can't believe it's been so long! That hiatus was completely accidental, I assure you. Also, this chapter is a bit on the short side... but, I couldn't really fit in what I wanted to, or find a good place to end it, so it ends a bit awkwardly. Sigh... Also, some of my top reviewers were absent last time. Hmm... Maybe because I was putting up chapter 7 "again"? Anyway...**

**Okami Saphira - There's gonna be some trouble, I believe. x) Also, I wasn't even planning for this to happen originally... it just kind of jumped out at me, and I was like, "That would be PERFECT!" So... yeah. x) And also, the mightyena pack isn't trying to trade the arcanine with them... The arcanine is actually from one of the other canine packs. They're trying to trade Slant, Tessa, and Je with the eeveelutions. (Though the arcanine has his own backstory too... *wink wink* I wanted to talk about it in this chapter, but it'll have to wait til the next one.)**

**Guest - Huh... who were you before? I don't recall anyone specifically mentioning that... But yeah, I figured it was time to throw in an umbreon, why not. I mean really, what's the likelihood no one's ever gonna evolve into one again?**

* * *

I hadn't even realized I'd dozed off until excited whispers woke me again.

_"Are they there?" "Whoa, they are!" *gasp* "He's awake!" *sound of several pairs of paws scrambling away*_

I raised my head groggily, my first coherent thoughts being that the pain in my head was reduced to a dull thump, and my leg no longer felt like it was half torn off but that every square inch of it was bruised, which was an improvement, I supposed.

Then I registered the voices, blinked the sleep out of my eyes and peered hard through the branches. Several small, fluffy bundles of gray fur peeped back at me, yellow eyes round as tiny moons. I glanced behind me, seeing Tessa and Slant still asleep, and Coal lying with one eye half-open, muzzle curled with gruff amusement.

"Hey!" one of the pups piped up excitedly, shouldering his way to the front. "I recognize you!"

_What?!_ I looked hard at him, and realized - yes, this was Little Yip, the lost poochyena pup! He must have noticed me by the cave entrance when Lilac had spoken up in his defense.

"How would you know him?" another pup, darker gray, asked suspiciously.

"Shut up, Silent Storm!" snapped Little Yip. "I, uh, saw him over the border during our Test!"

"Betcha he toldja how to get back, huh?" Silent Storm taunted, dropping into a classic play bow.

"Why, you - !" Little Yip growled in mock rage. He jumped onto his playmate's back, and they tussled across the dusty ground with tiny snarls and squeals.

There was one other pup, pale gray with unnervingly light eyes. "I'm Pale Mist," she informed me. Her robin's-egg-blue eyes danced as she chuckled, "My brothers are such ruffians!"

_"Yah!"_ I was startled as the aforementioned brothers tumbled directly in front of my paws. Little Yip pinned Silent Storm securely to the ground, little paws planted firmly on his brother's shoulders, with a triumphant "Ha!"

"Anyway," Little Yip panted, turning back to me, "I didn't get my name changed. I guess I was a bit late," he admitted as backed off of Silent Storm, letting his disgruntled brother back up.

The pups seemed to realize I hadn't said a word this entire conversation, and looked to me eagerly and expectantly for my next words.

I had to say _something,_ so after an awkward pause, I forced myself to respond as I would to Blue or Green. "So, um, did either of you get your names changed?" I flicked my gaze over Pale Mist and Silent Storm.

Pale Mist shook her head sheepishly. "I just got back in average time. At least I wasn't late like _him."_ She nudged Little Yip teasingly.

"I was the only one. I was Rising Storm before, and Silent Storm sounds way cooler," Silent Storm bragged. "Plus, I moved up. Soon we're gonna start going on hunts and stuff like that!"

"It doesn't fit you at all, though," Little Yip chortled. "You're never silent."

"Shut your little yap, Little Yip!"

Sensing another fight was about to break out, I quickly interrupted, real curiosity in my voice as I asked, "Moved up? What do you mean?"

A new, feminine voice startled me. A larger gray form slipped up between the pups, them tumbling away from her paws as she crouched down. A mightyena. "It _means,_" she said sternly, "to stop _bothering_ our... guest." She paused on the word "guest". We both knew I was really no guest at all, and I struggled to resist shooting her a fierce glare. "You know he has injuries," she scolded lightly. "Night Howl wanted to see him as soon as he woke up."

"Aww, Mom!" whined the pups in unison.

She shushed them, turning her emotionless gaze back to me. "I am Cold Fog," she intoned. "Come with me." Well, I could see where she got _that_ name from. As I winced and hobbled after her, I started adding "coldly" to everything she did. She walked across the clearing (coldly), stuck her nose into a patch of ferns (coldly), and told Night Howl she'd brought me. (Coldly.)

"Alright then, bring 'im in," replied a cheery male voice, which rather surprised me, what with the name 'Night Howl' and the prickly reputation mightyenas had earned themselves. Cold Fog dipped her head (coldly) and padded away.

I stepped in cautiously, noting with annoyance that the ferns seemed to be trying their best to unload every dewdrop they possessed onto my jet-black fur.

Behind the screen of ferns, a small "clearing" had been made from trodden-down grass. The grass sprang up quite thickly all around, creating a lovely whismical atmosphere. Several conspicuous-looking heaps of moss were placed on the ground. A young blue-eyed mightyena sat in the center of the small clearing, his tail curled neatly over his paws. "Hello," he greeted me. I stared back at him silently, and he picked up the slack, going on, "I would be what's known as a shaman in the packs. Healing and performing ceremonies and whatnot. How's Lilac doing?"

"She's good," I responded shortly.

"She's a bit of an odd one," Night Howl chuckled. "You know, it's tradition in that pack to not have a specific healer. They have much more... relaxed rituals than ours. Everyone has a bit of medical knowledge, and the eldest members of the pack would generally have control over the berries and things like that." He smiled slyly. "Lilac, she bucked the system, though."

"Why are you being so friendly to me?" I asked abruptly. Here he was treating me like we were best pals when I was being held against my will.

He settled down, letting out a slight sigh. "Not all of us here are like my sister, you know, though it's true, many of us aren't exactly... welcoming to pokemon that weren't born into our pack." He leveled his gaze with mine. "I'm sorry for the immediate discomfort you're experiencing, but no harm will come to you. It's simply a matter of getting what our pack needs, and then you'll be back on your merry way."

A low growl rose in my throat. "They won't bargain for me."

The mightyena was silent for a moment. "The eeveelutions have always bargained for their packmates."

"I'm not part of their pack." I turned away, my tail stirring uncomfortably. "I've been staying with them for a while, that's true, but it's more out of necessity. I'd be gone already if I could."

"We'll just have to see, I suppose," Night Howl replied after a time. "You may have more supporters than you think."

_I doubt it,_ I thought, but I kept that to myself. I was fairly certain I was going to be left alone while Tessa and Slant pranced happily back to their family, that I would have to escape on my own. It always came back down to that, me on my own. I could lie around being tended to and fed all I wanted, but the simple truth that I was a solitary creature could never be denied. _Then why are you going after Kiera?_ a voice nagged me. _That's different,_ I thought. But if I did find her... and if I found her alive... What would come next? There were just too many empty variables to come up with an answer. I would just have to wait and see, _if_ I could find her, _if_ she was alive, _if_ she didn't permanently hate my guts, _if_ I didn't die on the way, _if if if_...

"You're lucky you don't lose this leg." Night Howl's voice broke me out of my reverie. I quickly noticed that he had pawed away one of the lumps of moss, where a small pile of berries and plants and things were cleverly hidden. "Now lie down, will you?"

I complied, waiting as he prodded it (that elicited a snarl from me), and went about pretty much doing what Lilac would have done. He went on conversationally (this guy was really not getting that I was not a very conversational pokemon), "We sent a messenger to your pack already." (He also wasn't getting that I technically wasn't part of the pack.) "She should be returning soon. I'd say they could be here by tomorrow."

I stared off into space, blocking out the world around me. I was back to square one. My leg injured, trapped in a place I didn't want to be, unable to leave. But this time, I had strings attaching me to everything around me, tying me in place. And this time, I was willing to take things into my own paws.

* * *

As the day passed, I found there was nothing much to do but observe the pack and talk to my fellow captives. Around mid-day a random mightyena came up and dropped some food at our paws, walking away without a word. I gnawed discontentedly, annoyed that I was forced to rely on my captors.

Time drifted by, long, boring hours, and the night passed. Next thing I knew someone was yelling "They're here!" and Feri was striding into the clearing...

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter should be good... Again, sorry this one is so short in words and long in coming. Also, Je seems to be a kid magnet. Why is that? I honestly have no idea except for I love making cute kid characters... I hope this isn't too redundant from Blue and Green... x)**


	9. Exchange

**A/N: Procrastination ftw!**

**PhantoMNiGHT321 - No, he isn't, is he? This chapter will answer your questions. :) And yeah, I doubt Je likes it much, either.**

**SpyroAgain - Yeah, the Native American feel was what I was going for with the canine pack names. So I'm happy that I succeeded. :3**

**Shadowstar901 - Sadly, your review could be repeated every chapter. I'm incredibly good at procrastination, and what with an advanced class, homework, 2 other stories and a comic I'm working on, and wanting to get in some free time... well. You can see why it always takes me forever. :(**

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My ears flicked up instantly, and Tessa and Slant stirred beside me, hope flaring in their eyes. Coal simply glanced up and gave a slight growl, laying his head back on his paws. More eeveelutions filed into the clearing; Feri was followed by Crackle, Wisp, Ivy, and an old flareon I'd never spoken to, a twisted stump where his left foreleg should have been. Feri stalked straight up to Rico, even though the imposingly large mightyena was a good half a foot taller. Wisp glanced around frantically until her worried violet eyes landed on Tessa, peering out of the den beside me. She raced over to her daughter, and no one made a move to stop her. She was suddenly uncomfortably close to me, and I leaned away, ears flattened.

"Tessa, I was so worried, so, so worried..." She covered the young eevee in frantic licks, split tail waving happily. Tessa scurried back, out of her mother's grasp, and looked at her paws awkwardly as the inevitable question came. "But wait... why haven't you evolved?" Wisp frowned. "And where's...?"

"Mother." Slant spoke then, her voice low and flat, as if wondering what Wisp's reaction would be to her new form, so opposite from the prim espeon's.

Wisp's eyes widened and she took a half-step back, voice full of disbelief. "Slant... you're... and Tessa... what...?"

Tessa opened her mouth, but Slant hissed, "We can't explain now," and lifted her muzzle towards the scene unfolding in the clearing the pack called home.

"Greetings, Feri," Rico was saying smoothly, trotting closer to the eeveelutions' leader. With his smug smile and superior air, he looked just like the meowth that ate the pidgey.

"Why have you captured them, Rico?" Feri asked coolly.

"They were on our land," Rico replied, just as coolly. "A clear violation of our peace treaty."

"You're sure it was not a misunderstanding?" the flareon demanded.

"They were certainly over the border, if that's what you're asking," Rico answered, eyes narrowed. "Whether it was intentional or not, we may do what we wish with those in our part of the forest. The first two;" he lifted his muzzle toward Slant and Tessa; "were found wandering around, eating as they pleased." Beside me, Tessa's squeal of indignation was muffled as Wisp whisked her tail over her daughter's mouth. "The other was discovered passed out in our territory, at the base of a hill."

Feri's gaze flicked over us. It lingered on me, and I met his eyes for the few moments before he broke away, returning his stare to Rico. But those spare seconds told me all I needed to know. "The third is not of our own," he said. I heard Ivy give a quiet, dismayed gasp, earning a shushing from Crackle.

"Oh?" The mightyena's eyes betrayed curiosity.

Feri lifted his chin. "We... found him recently, injured. He has been sheltering with us."

Rico laughed hoarsely. "Yours or not, I expect you'll want him back if you went to all that trouble for him. Now," and a slight growl entered his voice, "enough beating around the bush. You've come to hear our terms, have you not?"

"I have," Feri admitted.

The sturdy mightyena drew himself up. "Then hear this: These three pokemon will be returned to you upon your agreement to allow us to hunt in your land for six weeks - two weeks per breach of the treaty." The eeveelutions began to bristle and murmur amongst themselves. Wisp stiffened at my side, and Slant bowed her head in shame. All the while Rico's eyes glinted with a pale steel. "Return here in four days to give me your answer. Further negotiations can be made at that time."

Feri sighed quietly. "We will be there. Before we go, though, we would like to speak to our members."

The alpha paused, before nodding. "When they're done, take them to the border," he reminded the party's escort. With that, he whipped around and vanished into the path of grass where Night Howl made his home.

I felt like vanishing as Feri and the others picked their way over to the prisoners' den. I was spared the effort of doing so, however, as Wisp and Tessa stepped out to greet them. Slant hesitated, long ears pinned back, crimson eyes anxious. I met her gaze, and she lowered her muzzle in embarrassment, hurrying out to join them. Beside me, Coal snorted.

The questions began, of course. The unavoidable questions the pair had hoped they could somehow avoid.

"Where were you?"

"Tessa? Still an eevee?"

"Slant... you're an umbreon?"

The sisters tried to answer as little as possible. They didn't answer, really, muttered vague unintelligible nothings, until Crackle bristled and Feri looked at them disapprovingly, and Wisp stood in front of them and exclaimed, "Stop pestering them! It's enough that they're safe, isn't it? They can answer your little questions when they get home."

And so the interrogation subsided, and they simply conversed. But I could see the tension, in Tessa's eyes, in the hunch of Slant's shoulders. And though Wisp and Ivy seemed quite oblivious to Slant's new form, and Feri eyed her with only slight apprehension, Crackle and the old flareon's gazes were hard as they muttered to themselves.

My gaze strayed to the main entrance to the clearing. Guarded, of course._ How am I ever going to get out of here? I'd have to find some secret way out, and even then, they'll be able to track and find me easily, since with this leg, I'll just be hobbling around out there._

I was startled out of my thoughts when a familiar face suddenly thrusted its way into my vision. Ivy. "What are you doing here?!" I said, acting before thinking.

She sat down in front of me. Behind her, the other eeveelutions were still talking to Tessa and Slant. "That's not much of a welcome for a friend, is it?" she teased.

I lowered my gaze, ears pinned back. "Well, no, it's just..."

"What happened?" she interrupted me, suddenly serious. "To hear Lilac tell it, you had a bad dream or something, and then you muttered a bit and just bolted out of camp. Then you went missing. We were both worried about you, Blue and Green, too," she asserted.

_Bad dream._ I flinched, remembering that nightmare. All of my worst, hidden fears, wrapped up into a neat little package. "That sums it up," I replied lamely.

"Je..." Her voice held a tone of sharpness. She turned to glance behind her; her pack members were finishing up with Slant and Tessa. She looked back at me, eyes troubled. "Fine, don't tell me how you got here. The thing is, I don't think Feri is going to trade back for you. He was never very fond of you."

No duh. All the same, a burst of anxiety hit me. What would the pack do, when they learned I couldn't be used as a bargaining chip? They didn't seem like ruthless savages, but with the way they worked, I doubt they'd let me leave scotch-free for trespassing.

But as usual, I didn't let my insecurities show. I did my best to force down the stress, and instead shrugged, betraying nothing. "That's alright."

"Alright! Je, what - "

"Ivy, are you coming?" It was Feri. Crackle and the flareon were grouped behind him, while Wisp tearfully gave her daughters good-bye licks. His eyes were emotionless as they traced over Ivy and I.

"Yes!" she called. She started to head out, only to turn back and give me one last look, full of worry, confusion, and longing. Then she sighed and bounded over to join her packmates. Slant and Tessa padded back, and the mightyena escort surrounded the group, but my eyes were on Ivy as she walked slowly out of my sight with the rest of them. For some reason, a strange feeling filled the pit of my stomach.

She cared. Someone cared.

I shouldn't care if anyone cares.

I shouldn't... _argh!_

I was too tired for these mind-games. I laid my head on my paws and sighed. Yes. Admit it. Someone cares and I like that. Why shouldn't I?

It all came down to the fact that I would be leaving soon. Leaving them, leaving everyone. Back on my endless journey. But I was so entangled now, leaving would be hard, I admit it. But what about after it was over? All said and done? We... I... could return, couldn't we? But, no... Feri wouldn't let me back in, I was almost sure of it. But...

...why?

...why leave? If I were to be entirely honest with myself... finding Kiera... was a bit of a longshot, wasn't it?

_Don't say that!_

The thought exploded with such intensity, I almost physically flinched. I found myself breathing hard. Finding Kiera had been all I had to hold on to for days, weeks, months. The only thing I could latch on to, the only way I could stay together instead of in a thousand pieces on the ground, after my fateful escape. Now I was grounded enough, had other things to cling to... but no. My eyes squeezed closed. After all this time, there was no way I could just end my mission now. It would torture me to the end of my days. _Is she dead? Is she alive? Where is she?_ Those questions would haunt me forever.

My gaze darted around camp once more. I had only one option, and that was escape.

I spent the rest of the day analyzing my options. Watching the mightyena, how they worked, if the main entrance was ever unguarded. (It wasn't.) I watched to see if anyone left from other places. (They didn't.) My mind raced and tuned out Tessa's endless chatter. Night fell and I was still at square one, so frustrated I could practically kill someone.

That night, my dreams were full of darkness and the metallic tang of blood.

* * *

I woke with the sun. Images from the evening's nightmares lingered in my mind. Tessa and Slant were still asleep in a brown-and-black heap, and in the bush's deeper recesses, Coal's deep breaths filled my ears. I stepped out into the pale dawn air, sitting down just outside the den. Thinking. Simply thinking.

"So." I jumped; Coal hadn't been asleep, after all. He partially emerged, lying down beside me with his front half out of the bush and his back half in. His large size struck me once more, and I cast him a sidelong glance.

"What is it?"

"You're thinking about escaping," he stated. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I bristled slightly, glancing around, but there was no one within earshot. Only a few pokemon were up, and those were gathered in clumps near the edges of the clearing.

"Why do you say that?" I asked calmly, staring straight ahead.

"Oh, we both know it," Coal muttered irritably. "I can tell. By the look in your eyes. You know your pack won't barter for you, and I know mine won't for me."

This was a new piece of information. I turned to face him. "Won't it? What do they have against you?"

He snorted (this seemed to be a sound he made a lot). "A tale not for this time. But I've angered quite a few of them. It's been five days since Rico sent messengers to tell them to meet for negotiations. They're supposed to arrive tomorrow, but they won't, I'm sure of it."

"So you're also looking to escape." I couldn't keep the curiosity from my voice. What was he proposing? A partnership?

"Face it, buddy," Coal answered with a tinge of sarcasm, "you ain't getting out of here on your own. You need me." So he was.

"But do you need me?" I inquired. Honestly - what would he have to gain? Could he be setting me up?

His eyes met mine. "Strength in numbers, eh? As soon as we're off Rico's land, you're free to go. I have... personal matters I need to take care of."

_As do I, _I thought, but said nothing. After a long and awkward pause, I responded, "Fine. I'll work with you. But if you're lying..." A threat was embedded in my voice.

"Not as dumb as you look, are you?" Coal laughed hoarsely. "Don't worry. What would I, exile, captive, have to gain from turning you in?"

He had a point. But by now I was instinctively suspicious. We fell silent then, the two of us. I found myself looking to the sky. The sun flickered halfheartedly behind a blanket of woolen clouds, sending pale, haphazard rays to the earth below. There was a chill in the air this morning that I could not ignore. It had been coming for a while, but now, as my gaze traced the treetops... I realized that only a few leaves were left clinging to their skeletal branches. This was possibly the worst time to begin my journey once more. Cold-time was nearly in full swing now. With this leg of mine...

No, I couldn't dwell on it. I just had to have faith. Faith that, in the end, it would all work out.

...I didn't know how I could survive otherwise.


	10. NOT AN UPDATE, JUST SOME NEWS

**Hey, guys. I'm going to be posting this, or something like this, on all of my serious stories. I feel like I owe my readers an explanation.**

**So, there hasn't been an update in quite some time, and there may not be for a while longer, either. Doing NaNoWriMo was a really good experience for me, and I'm proud to say that I met my word goal of 30,000 words within the month (though the story itself isn't finished). It kind of revolutionized how I think about writing stories in general. And the experience left me pretty burned out creatively. At this point, my creative juices have had time to recover, but I'm kind of taking a step back and thinking about where I want to go with everything, and how I want to tackle story-writing from now on. Aside from that, my regular life is pretty busy as well; school, of course, and tons of homework from advanced math, and the exercise program I'm doing.**

**I haven't given up on these stories or decided to abandon them. However, for the time being - and I suppose this is very familiar to you guys, isn't it? - they're being put on the back burner. It's kind of ridiculous that some of these are nearing their one-year anniversary. I guess they kind of ****_have_**** been on the back burner this entire time, since I proved to myself in NaNoWriMo that I can write really, really quickly if I have to. '^_^**

**Well, anyway. I've been thinking that to really get something done, I need to take a more NaNoWriMo-esque approach. I think long stories in the future will be handled differently. I'm thinking I want it to be finished ****_before _****I start posting it online. That way, I'll know if it's something I really want to do, there won't be loads of delays, and I won't be disappointing people by taking breaks or abandoning it after I lose interest.**

**Now, I do plan to get these stories past the finish line someday. After all the work I've put into them already, it would be ridiculous not to! Here's hoping that this message can be replaced with a shiny new chapter before too long.**

_**Note to Chasing Dreams readers specifically: The next chapter is actually all planned and half written. If I can stop being a lazyass procrastinator, it could actually be finished pretty soon. I have learned long ago not to make any promises about updating schedules, though. Anyway - just thought I'd let you know.**_

**~ x-SwiftyGirl-x**

**January 2013**


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